LASIK Results

What is our goal? Simple. We want the very best outcomes available from any clinic, anywhere in the world.

Focus has a achieved a 100% success rate for 20/20 for our patients, for all common shortsighted prescriptions for the past 3 years.

We know of no other clinic that has matched these results.

Key Point: There is a big difference between 100% and, for example, another clinic with 98% results, especially if you happen to be in that 2%.

What can you expect from treatment?

We now expect vision beyond 20/20 as a standard outcome after Z-LASIK. Our latest data shows we have achieved this in 99.7% of patients (with typical shortsight, up to -6.00 (see below for a full table). An independent clinical audit is underway to validate our excellent vision outcomes. (What is 20/20 vision?)

Look for better than 20/20

With modern laser surgery, 20/20 isn’t a high enough benchmark any more. You must ask your prospective surgeon what percentage achieved better than 20/20, i.e. 20/16 or 20/12.

The percentage above 20/20 tells you how many people achieved sharp or very sharp vision, to the same or even better degree than they could with glasses or contact lenses. A good surgeon will have this information to hand.

When choosing a clinic for laser eye surgery, results are crucial. Spend time to research individual clinics and their outcomes. Make sure any clinic quotes results at 6 months after surgery because it takes this long to determine the final result. Also ask about the enhancement rate – how often does the clinic need to re-operate to correct the focus.

One very important fact is that Focus and its surgeons are not paid consultants for any laser manufacturer. This means we are free to choose the best individual laser for each part of the LASIK process.

The minimum information you should get

As a minimum, for any surgeon’s results, you want to see data tables clearly showing:

The % of patients who achieved the driving standard for vision (known as 20/40 or 6/12)

The % who could see 20/20 (6/6) or better without glasses.

These % should also be broken down into each prescription range

These data will often report binocular vision, where the patient used both eyes together. You may also see results showing vision for single eyes. This is the most basic level of information a surgeon or clinic should provide with standard prescriptions ranges, from low to extreme, and the % who achieved driving standard (20/40), and % at 20/20 or better. However, as above, look for the better than 20/20 success rate.

Full results table for shortsight

The cohort data is from Focus – 676 primary treatments for shortsight (not ‘final outcome’) by surgeon David Allamby at 6 months post-op, binocular vision, ages 20-60, myopia up to -12.00 dioptres and astigmatism up to 2.00 dioptres with a best corrected vision of 20/20 or better pre-surgery. Please contact us if you would like more information or to discuss these results.

Full results – typical prescriptions to -6.00

The data highlighted in yellow covers all typical short-sighted prescriptions, i.e. up to -6.00 dioptres and astigmatism up to 2.00 dioptres; this includes 85% of all short-sighted patients. The last row average values show 100% of patients achieved 20/20 or better vision at 6 months, and 99.7% could see better than 20/20.

Which lasers do we use to achieve these results?

After intensive research, our precision German WaveLight and Swiss-made Ziemer lasers were chosen to meet our exceptional standards. You have the confidence that these systems are the only lasers approved by Focus for use on our patients. We selected the Swiss Ziemer LDV as our femtosecond laser. The LDV has opto-mechanical benefits from its high numerical aperture (NA), which means the energy is more accurately and finely focussed. The Ziemer femtosecond laser has the fastest repetition speed of any currently available, more than 5 million times per second (5MHz, and 10-30 times faster than other systems) which means far more pulses are applied in an overlapping pattern, rather than in a grid pattern with residual tissue bridges. Having a finer focus with much less energy per pulse means less gas production and less inflammation in the eyes.

For the actual vision correction stage of LASIK you need a second system known as an excimer laser. Here we chose the German WaveLight Allegretto.

Our results speak for themselves. Our commitment to 100% 20/20 vision for our patients has led to scrutiny of every step of the clinical process. Call us with your prescription to learn the 20/20 success rate for patients treated by us with a similar refractive error.

Results are not simply the final readings from our equipment or charts to see how we are doing. They are integral to everything we strive for at Focus. By continually monitoring all areas of our clinic from the laser right through to customer satisfaction we are able to improve all the time and perfect what we do on all levels.

We start by using sophisticated software and data analysis to monitor our surgery outcomes and results. Every single appointment is tracked and input into our computer systems by our Refractive Technicians – as such our results are ongoing and transparent. Our outstanding results are monitored and scrutinised by our surgeons and optometrists at regular clinical governance meetings. Our surgeons in turn liaise closely with our laser equipment manufacturers in both Germany and Switzerland – we ensure that our results and monitoring are regularly discussed.

Going beyond 20/20

Following our commitment to a 100% success rate for 20/20 vision with our Z-LASIK technology and treatment, Focus is now targeting beyond 20/20. Our clinical audit data shows more than 99% of patients with typical short-sighted prescriptions can see better than 20/20 (although not commonly known, it is actually possible to see better than 20/20 – learn more about 20/20 and visual acuity. What does 20/20 mean?).

In fact, our latest in-house data shows that 2 out of every 3 of our patients could see 20/12, which is almost twice as good as 20/20 vision and at the limit of sight possible from a human eye. We are in the process of an independent audit on these data which we will be publishing soon.

We have achieved these remarkable results with our two highly skilled surgeons, Mr David Allamby and Mr Ali Mearza. The combination of first-rate surgical skill, rigorous patient selection and screening, plus our state-of-the-art Ziemer and WaveLight lasers allows us to consistently achieve 20/20 vision or even better.

Our attention to detail and results goes beyond the technical aspects of the laser eye surgery procedure. We want to know how happy you are with the service you receive, how you feel about our team and our clinic. Our clinic manager and medical director sit down each week and go over our customer satisfaction surveys. They work out what can be improved, what patients see as important issues and strive to implement any changes if needed to better the Focus experience.

Please call us on 0207 307 8250 to discuss vision correction at Focus or to book a consultation.